Adam
My heart is more like a ravenous beast banging against the confines of my rib cage as Cassie and I stroll through Breckenridge hand in hand.
Spring Break has been incredible so far, days filled with skiing, and nights filled with hot tubs and partying our faces off only to get up and do it all over again.
Skyler and Bear booked us all the perfect cabin on the edge of town, and where last Spring Break, Cassie and I had our breaking point, this year, everything is perfect.
It feels like all the drama we’ve gone through, all the other people, the misplaced timing, the hidden feelings and miscommunication… it’s all led to this moment.
I’m about to lavalier Cassie.
And she has no idea.
In Greek world, lavaliering a girl is about as close to committing to her for life as you can get, other than proposing.
When you get your fraternity’s letters on a chain and put them around your girl’s neck, you’re letting her know she’s as important to you as your brotherhood — if not more.
You trust her. You love her. You’ll fight for her.
And one day, when college is over and the timing is right, you’ll marry her.
For me, that day can’t come soon enough.
“I’m kind of hungry,” Cassie says. “Wanna get tacos?”
“You know I will never say no to tacos.”
She leans in close enough to whisper. “Or blowjobs.”
I bark out a laugh. “Right, or those. Although, we’ve come a long way. I remember the first time you went down on me… you remember?”
“In the shower,” she recalls with a smile. “You had your hand in my hair and you had to guide me and show me what to do.”
My cock twitches under my snow pants when I think of how she looked on her knees staring up at me, and I clear my throat and aim for a subtle adjustment as we walk.
“Alright, enough of that talk, otherwise I’m going to have to find a dark alley to drag you into, and I don’t think there are many dark alleys in Breckenridge. ”
Cassie giggles, light and airy, her strawberry pink lips curling up into the prettiest smile.
Her face is slightly pink from our days on the slopes, save for the outline of her ski goggles, and it’s adorable how fresh and rejuvenated she looks.
Her hair is unkempt, but her shoulders are relaxed, and the way she’s smiling up at me makes me want to take out my phone and snap a picture.
Except, I don’t have my phone. Right now, it’s in Skyler’s hands where she’s hidden away ready to capture what’s about to happen on camera.
“So, tacos,” Cassie says, releasing my hand to loop her arm through mine, instead.
The main street of Breckenridge is what you’d expect any western town to look like, except with mountains sprawling up all around and snow covering every inch.
We walk carefully even in our snow boots to make sure we don’t slip on the ice hidden in patches.
“What about that place,” she says, nodding toward a little Mexican restaurant at the end of the strip.
“Looks perfect,” I say, and then I glance around, making sure everyone and everything is in place. “But first, you should come over here.”
I drag her toward a staircase lined with fairy lights and flowers that leads up to the outlet mall on the main strip, smiling at her confusion the whole way.
“I don’t really feel like shopping.”
“We’re not. Just stand here,” I say, placing her in the middle of the staircase about halfway up. “It’ll be a nice picture.”
She chuckles at that, crossing her arms over her chest. “Since when have you been on the lookout for photo ops?”
I grin, kissing her forehead before I hop down the stairs two at a time. When I get to the bottom, I turn to face her again. “Since now.”
Suddenly, the music coming from the speakers lining the main street goes dead, and four of my brothers scramble from where they’d been blending in at various outdoor dining tables along the street.
They gather right in the middle of the road — one with a guitar, one with a cajón, and one with a tambourine — while the last of them starts singing into the wireless microphone now connected to the speakers.
Jason Mraz.
“I’m Yours.”
Cassie’s brows tug inward at first, and then she laughs, shaking her head and looking from the band to me and back again. “What in the wo—”
Before she can finish her sentence, a few more of my brothers jump up from where they’d been pretending to shop or eat, and start dancing.
Then, a handful of Cassie’s sisters do the same.
It’s a waterfall effect, and as the first verse is sweetly sung, dozens and dozens of Alpha Sigmas and Kappa Kappa Betas start filling the street below Cassie and dancing in a choreographed flash mob.
Cassie is laughing and clapping along, and every time her eyes find mine, she’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. I can see the confusion in her eyes, and she mouths, “What is this?!”
When the first chorus finishes, my brother who was singing tosses me the mic, and I catch it with a spin just as everyone else freezes.
Suddenly, the jubilant affair is at a stand-still, and Cassie gasps, still smiling as she looks around at everyone frozen in various dance moves.
“Cassie McBee,” I start, still standing at the foot of the stairs with the microphone in my hand.
“You and I… we have put each other through the wringer. From other people stealing our attention to our own damn pride standing in the way, we have taken anything but the easy route to finally being together.”
She chuckles at that, and already, I can see her eyes welling with tears.
“From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you’d be mine.
Even if I didn’t realize at the time what the feeling was, I can look back now and say with confidence that the way the world tilted, the way my breath caught, the way everything before that moment seemed to fade away — it was my body and soul’s recognition of forever standing right in front of me. ”
I start slowly walking up the stairs, one by one.
“It killed me to see you hurt by others while I fought my way to you. It killed me even more that I was so blind to see what we had from the start, that it took us both so long to finally make this official. But one thing I know without a single doubt is that I wouldn’t change any of it.
Because all the pain, all the heartache, all the frustration,” I add with a chuckle.
“It all led us right here, to this moment, to this incredible, one-of-a-kind love that no one else in this world has.”
The first tears slip free when Cassie blinks as I step up to stand on the step right below her.
“You’re my person, Cassie,” I say, reaching into my pocket for the delicate silver chain with my fraternity’s letters on it.
When I withdraw it and let it dangle from my fingers, Cassie gasps, covering her mouth with both hands.
The tears flow stronger. “You’re my now.
You’re my forever. And though I may have a lot to figure out still, I know I can do anything with you by my side. ”
“Adam…”
I step up to meet her, tucking the microphone between my arm and ribs long enough to unclasp the necklace and hold it up.
“Cassie McBee, will you wear my letters? Will you take this lavalier as a promise that I am yours? Because if you will, one day, I’ll put a ring on your finger so the whole world knows it, too.”
She shakes her head as more tears slip free. “Of course, I will, you idiot.”
That earns her a laugh from the frozen crowd, and once the necklace is around her neck, I toss the microphone behind me and back into the hands of my brother.
The band launches into the next verse as everyone starts dancing again, and — yes, I went full-out cheese — Cassie’s sisters launch confetti out of little cannons and cover every single one of us in a paper shower.
Cassie’s arms are around my neck in the next instant, and she’s crying and holding on tight as I spin her around while being careful not to take us both tumbling down the stairs.
When I land her on her feet once more, she looks up at me with those glistening emerald eyes and says, “I love you more than anyone or anything in the world.”
“I love you, too,” I promise, and then we share a kiss so long and deep and passionate that it shouldn’t be allowed in public, but I don’t care.
I’m hers.
And she’s mine.
And nothing in this world can ever keep us apart.
***
Later that evening, Cassie is tucked under my arm in the hot tub as we listen to Skyler and Kip telling a funny story about their summer in Kansas. My phone buzzes from the edge of the tub, and I glance at it, heart jumping into my throat when I see an email from the Alpha Sigma National Chapter.
I clear my throat, excusing myself inside to use the restroom, and only after I close the door and lock it behind me do I open the email.
Mr. Brooks, it is our pleasure to offer you a position as a Field Executive for the Alpha Sigma National Chapter.
The rest of the email is a blur, even though I read it several times, because it takes all my strength to keep myself standing upright as the meaning of what I’m reading sinks in.
“Holy shit,” I murmur to myself, and with the phone still in my hands, I lift my gaze to lock eyes on my reflection. “I got it.”